Thistles and Thorns
by crowtooth
Summary: In canon, Thistleclaw was a bloodthirsty and violent brute. However, this isn't canon - and so this isn't the same Thistleclaw. How can a simple personality change divert things from their original path? Cover image made by yowico on DeviantArt. Good Thistleclaw AU.


Doestar sat, staring down at her former Clanmates from the stars. A voice called her name from behind, and she turned her head slightly to see Oakstar approach. His small, squat form seemed insignificant beside her long-legged, lean body as he sat to her right.

"I've received a prophecy," she meowed to her predecessor. Her voice was calm and steady, yet her head swam with troubled thoughts.

Oakstar seemed to be able to detect this, and so mewed, "It's something bad?"

Doestar hesitated. "Not quite," she admitted. Was she worrying for nothing?

Oakstar sighed. "Spit it out then. If it's a prophecy, we only have so much time."

She shuffled her paws, like she were a kit getting into trouble rather than a refined and powerful former leader speaking to one of her own. "It states, 'Thistles and thorns grow. None is as it seems when sparks are ignited within the forest. They may speak danger, but fire will inevitably save the Clans.'"

Oakstar remained silent for a very long time. "That's all?" he asked. "No visuals?"

A nod. "No visuals. Sadly."

"Would've been helpful," he murmured in agreement.

Quiet filled their ears. They kept watching over ThunderClan's camp. Oakstar wanted to speak, yet he found it difficult to find the right words. After a short while, he found them and spoke.

"I've been meaning to ask you this for a very long time, Doestar. What made you choose Pineheart for deputy?"

"Pinestar," she corrected gently. "And why not? Did you foresee something after joining StarClan that convinced you of some sort of guilt?"

"No, of course not! But you know what will become of his son."

"Not precisely," Doestar meowed. "We only got a brief message from the great ones, and I passed it onto him at his leadership ceremony. You know this."

"Answer the question properly then, if you will. What made you want him as deputy?"

"I don't see why you're so skeptical. I thought you'd be pleased to see your son carry on the family honor, especially after what happened to Birchface and Frecklewish."

Oakstar winced. Any cat in StarClan knew that he despised Mapleshade for what she'd done: she lied about being his son's mate and killed his daughter after being exposed as a fraud. Doestar's eyes weren't even open at that point in time, but she'd been told plenty of stories by her mentor, Nettlebreeze.

"Nevermind about them!" Oakstar meowed with a bit of a bite in his tone. "Just answer me."

Doestar heaved a sigh. "Fine, I will. I was told not to."

Oakstar's ears perked with surprise. "You… you were? By whom?"

"By Nettlebreeze. After my nine lives ceremony, he warned me not to make Pineheart my deputy since I'd already thought about it. He said that things could be corrected even if I did, but I shouldn't do so in the first place. Since I wanted Pineheart as my deputy, I took this warning as an extra boost to make him so. It was pure immature spite, and I regret it now."

"Why? I thought you liked my son as deputy, and now leader!" Oakstar seemed incredibly offended, as if her words were a personal assault on him.

"Because I was _warned_, mouse-brain!" Doestar replied with a hiss. "I should've obeyed Nettlebreeze, but I felt like doing what I wanted instead of heeding words of advice. Now I can almost feel the trouble coming because of my choice. Pinestar's leadership won't destroy ThunderClan, but it will bring trouble for it."

Oakstar's tail lashed. "Pineheart is a good tom. He'll do fine. I suppose you just wished you'd made someone else deputy instead."

"Pinestar," she mewed with an annoyed tone. "And don't be immature! You're perfectly aware of the fact that I know what I'm talking about, else you wouldn't have trusted me enough to be deputy. Or do you wish Beetail had lived long enough to surpass you instead?"

Oakstar shook his head. "Of course not! Don't be dramatic. And I'm his father; I don't need to call him by his leader name."

This logic made no sense to Doestar, but she didn't comment on it. "Why did you approach me, Oakstar? Did you want to argue?"

"No, I wanted to ask my question. You just seemed worried about your prophecy, so I decided to ask about it."

"And why is this question important all of a sudden?"

Oakstar averted his pale yellow gaze to the ground, and his demeanor instantly turned uncertain. "I got a message from the great ones. I will pass it onto no living cat."

"And I presume it's about Pinestar then? What is it?" She leaned her head forward slightly.

A defeated-sounding sigh emerged from his muzzle. "In short, it's warning me that Pinestar will abandon ThunderClan in a time of need. I think this is at least part of the reason why you were told not to make him deputy."

"Because he would leave anyway."

"Exactly." His tone was almost silent with shame for his son.

"And do you have any idea what my message might mean?" Doestar asked.

"No. Pass it onto one of the living, and they'll figure it out sooner or later. Make it Featherwhisker; no one believes Goosefeather." He didn't seem like he cared too much, what with his monotone voice and distracted gaze.

"Very well. I'll tell him next time he goes to Highstones." She flicked her tail with a hint of annoyance at his lack of care. "I'll be going now. Deerpaw asked to hunt with me around this time."

Oakstar remained seated in the grass, watching ThunderClan through the large pool of water. He only nodded slightly to show he heard her. His eyes were focused on Pinestar, who spoke with Sunfall near Highrock. Doestar could sense his worry and hope mingle into a confused mess. This was one of the many reasons she was grateful for never having kits: she would hate to see one grow to bring ThunderClan down.

Doestar turned and walked to the place she agreed to meet her littermate at. Her own prophecy remained in her mind. _I beg of you, great ones, please let this be a good thing for ThunderClan._


End file.
